Nadine the Mage
by Natalia Cousland
Summary: The life of a mage who isn't conscripted. From being ripped from her family, to the taking of the tower, beyond. Non-Grey Warden Mage. Some romance later on! Rating may change.
1. Prologue: A Mage is found

**Nadine the Mage  
**_  
by Natalia Cousland_

_The life of a mage who isn't conscripted. From being ripped from her family, to the taking of the tower, beyond.

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_**Prologue**_

The tower was big, that's what she'd been told. Her mouth quivered when she thought of it. Why couldn't she have lived with her parents? Why did they take her away? Why was she cursed! Her hands were held by the cold steel gauntlet of the Templar, restraining. They scared her, what with their bulky armor. She wore a simple dress that her mother had made for her.

They had big swords, the Templars. Shields also adorned their back. She knew better than to run. These men were monsters, and once the monsters had you, you couldn't get away. That was what her brother had told her, after she had saved him with her curse. She should run, because she will be found. Their mother has tsk'd at him. Her father would protect her from the monsters. Even if she couldn't see them, father could.

They came. The moonlight had reflected off their giant forms. They talked with her father, but as she heard them through the window, she had seen the shadows of their swords. She didn't want father hurt. So, she'd given herself up. The monsters (now identified as Templars) held no expression as her father held back her screaming mother. The monsters wouldn't let her look back and watch her mother as they walked from the village.

She had to stay strong. Though, the thought that she may never see her family again killed her inside. Never again would mother hug her, or read her stories. Never would Big Brother tell her about the world. Never would her father hand her the wooden stick and teach her how to hold it right, how to defend herself.

Staying strong was near impossible. She held in the tears, biting her lip. The monsters would **not **see her cry. She would show them, someday. She would see her parents again, and her brother too.

She didn't show how much it hurt when they dragged her into the boat. Her arm throbbed, and the grip on her hand was like a metal vice. She made no sound as she felt the boat push from the docks.

And so, she became Nadine Amell, the Apprentice mage.

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**A/N: Err... so... I thought I'd start the sotry that's been nagging me! This is basicly the life of a 'normal' mage. One that is not turned into a Grey Warden and such. It may turn out to be an interesting project...**


	2. Chapter 1: A Mage is Well Known

_**It's short, but I'm thinking about making most of the chapters shorter. It IS the life of her, so I'm trying not to hurry it.**_

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_**Chapter 1: A Mage is well-known.**_

"Nadine?" the older women called. She glanced around the room before shaking her head. _Where was that apprentice? _"Nadine Amell."

Wynne's sternness was met with silence. She suddenly thought that maybe Nadine _wasn't _here. The girl had a tendency to not be where she was suppose to be. All of the apprentices had left the room to be with their mentors, but imagine Wynne's surprise when her apprentice wasn't anywhere to be found.

She didn't dare openly say that she'd lost the apprentice. Perhaps it was her pride, but it was mostly the Templars. They were most likely to believe that she'd been possessed by a demon, then think of it as child's play.

Wynne walked out of the dorms, nodding to a few apprentices and mages that greeted her. Most of the mages often brought up the topic of her status. If any mage were to be moved to Senior, she would, and soon. She put on her smile and pushed back her shoulders when the Templars watched. They didn't question why she had a small staff in her hands. They knew whom it was for.

Everyone knew Nadine. Maybe not for good reasons, but they still knew her. In fact, if a Templar ever found a piece of sticky stuff on their armor, they knew who it was. She was also the girl to attempt at making cookies in the kitchen, then give the result to mages and Templars alike. Most people thought that she didn't know the gravity of the situation between mages and Templars, but none of them wanted to spoil her childish mood.

It was, of course, in the kitchen that Wynne found her. _Heard her_, to be more correct. Her little voice carried through most of the level, singing out random words that she thought went together. _They never do._

She giggled at the cooks when they opened the fire oven. The cook warned her not to touch when she brought the flat iron pan out. Nadine nodded eagerly and as soon as the cookies where in sight, she was gushing at how great they looked. Wynne was surprised to say that these cookies looked better than most of the others she'd made.

Her eyes somehow caught hold of Wynne, and the older women instantly melted. She remembered when the mages had restored her sight. She'd been born mostly blind, only seeing shadows in one eye.

But the spell messed with her eyes. They now glowed an icy blue, and she seemed to see right through the person. When Wynne had explained something about what normal people saw, the girl had shook her head. "Everything I see... um... what's the word?" She put a finger to her chin in thought before her face lit up. She illustrated with her hands above her head. "Glows. It's not like how you say it is."

"Wynne!" the girl cried, snapping her out of her trance. She had been the mage's apprentice for about a year now, but those eyes still unsettled her. The magic that swam there was powerful. "I'm sorry I'm late, but look! They're _perfect!_"

Wynne nodded, but then remembered her reason for being here. She plastered on a her stern face. "Yes, they are very good cookies. Might I remind you _why _you are at this tower?"

The girl's expression suddenly saddened. "I'm sorry, Wynne."

Minutes later, the girl was skipping by, handing cookies to any mage who was walking by (or any Templar who was just standing there). Soon, she realized she was out of cookies. That was about the time that they arrived in the room Wynne was going to teach her in. It wasn't the normal area, with it's bookshelves that reached high up to the ceiling. It was a room full of plants, and the air was... warm. Nadine hadn't been in a warm room in what felt like so long.

She dutifully stayed behind Wynne, but her eyes strayed to the sides, examining the rows of plants. There were all kinds of different colored leaves and flowers. The beauty of it all captured so much of her attention that she ran right into Wynne when she stopped. She mumbled her apologies before turning her attention to the older mage.

"Many mages choose not to go down this path, but I am putting the option out for you," Wynne started, pointing to all of different "Spirit Healer and Herbalism."

Nadine had a hard time paying attention to her mentor during this lesson. She'd always been fascinated by the healing magic and helping others, but the process seemed… dull. _If you mix this and this together, you get this, but only if you do it like this. _

Well, to cut it short, she was bored. When Lunch came around, Wynne let her out, and had to hold in the laugh as she watched her apprentice practically run out of the room. If only she were more enthusiastic about these things. Most everyone knew that she could excel and be very powerful.

Unfortunately, the Templar watching over them also knew.

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_**On to the next chapter! I believe that it involves snow :D **_


	3. Chapter 2: A Mage Finds A Friend

**Right, well, here it is! Might I remind you all that I do not have a beta, so it may be rather scratchy, er... not well edited. I try my best, though. So please excuse if the character happens to nud instead of nod :D Or (thanks to my spellcheck) she is saying "Defiantly," instead of "Definitely,"**

**I spent the last couple of days laying out the story line so that I actually know what I'm doing, here. I can't wait to get to some parts, but I'm not the fastest writer, just to warn you. Oooo I should start the next one while I can!**

**Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2: A Mage Finds A Friend**

It was snowing.

No mages where allowed outside of the tower, but any of the windows where crowded with apprentices going 'ooo' and 'ahhh'. Sure, snow was snow and mages knew how to conjure it, but not _snow._ Ice was the thing, and never did the magic seem so natural then as it did now, watching it fall freely from the clouded, dark sky.

Nadine was one of those daring ones who tried to capture snow, leaning out of the window and cupping her hand out. An older mage had once told her that mages were rarely afraid of heights. This, of course, was most likely due to the fact that they all lived in this big, tall tower.

She was, however, not leaning out the window for long. A very disgruntled Wynne happened to be passing by and had snatched her from the window. "You're going to fall, and be very sorry even _before_ you land."

Anyone who had heard knew that it was Wynne's way of trying to be firm. Nadine had always went with it, but she often stared longingly out any windows. Two was much too long to be cooped up, especially for am eight year old. She often day dreamed of getting out of the tower and playing in the falling snow. She could remember doing so last winter, when she was still with her family.

She had a couple of days where she wouldn't talk to anybody unless addressed. Those days she had been lost in her thoughts, thinking about her family. Most of the mages had encouraged her to think of the tower mages as her family when she voiced it, so she learned to keep to herself.

She had skipped the cookie making that week. She'd been too busy making up for what she'd lost in her studies. When other mages asked Wynne what was wrong, the older mage responded with: "Most young mages go through something like this, she is merely choosing to handle it differently."

Although, Wynne herself wasn't all that sure. She hoped dearly that the apprentice hadn't lost interest in her studies. She seemed to have really had the want to be a good mage. Most of the mages Wynne had, well... led to the _end _of their apprenticeship had been successful. She couldn't be doing anything wrong, could she? She did not want to have Nadine end up like her first apprentice. She didn't even want to think about it.

~*~

Nadine was sitting on the floor of the apprentice chamber during midday meal with her books circling her and a makeshift meal in hand. She'd been at it all morning, ever since Wynne had sent her to the chambers after finding her asleep on her chair.

She'd tried sleeping the night before, but she always dreamed of that night the templars had come. What would it have been like if she could see the templars? She dreamed of many different versions, but they all were rather nightmarish. After, she didn't even try to sleep, for fear that she would dream again. Instead, she lay awake, thinking of what her life may have been like if she'd never been found, or if she had been born without this... gift, as they call it.

Though at the moment she viewed it as a curse.

"You're Nadine, right?" a boyish voice interrupted her thoughts. She grimaced when she realized that she had been at it again, staring off into space and thinking about what could have been. She wiped the look off her face before looking up. She'd seen this boy before. Dark shaggy hair and blue apprentice robes that seemed a bit too big for him. She must be a few inches taller than him, at most. He knelt down in front of her and glanced down at the books around her.

"I might be," she nodded, watching him carefully. "Yes?"

He glanced back up at her, smiling. "Aren't you only eight? I haven't even learned this stuff yet!" He pointed to the books around her.

She blinked, having not been expecting that. She glanced down at her book, _Second Stage Book of Conjuring Ice_ and realized that maybe she wasn't as behind as she'd thought. "Um... I am eight, but you can't be that far off of learning it, how old are you?"

"Nine and one quarter," he said, simple as day. He shrugged. "Maybe I'm a bit behind, I hear my mentor mumbling something about 'apprentices who catch plants on fire instead of study them', but I thought that maybe she wasn't talking about me..."

She laughed. Maybe that was why he trailed off, because she wouldn't hear anything he said over it. Or maybe he was wondering how he had gotten her to laugh so easily. He'd thought it would be harder. She laughs like a girl, he thought. Thought, it's more short than most girls laughs, louder even.

"So, I was wondering..." he started again when she had calmed down. She blinked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Did you make cookies today?"

She frowned. "No, I was a bit busy with catching up on work." She glanced down at the books. "Though, I suppose I may be doing a bit more than Wynne wanted."

"Can we go make some, then?" He asked suddenly. She was taken aback by his bluntness.

"Umm, we'd have to do that tomorrow morning, when the cook ladies aren't making supper or cleaning up from lunch. They get rather cranky during that time." She wrinkled her nose, gathering her books. "And, I believe that I don't know you name."

He gave her a look that purely said 'who _doesn't _know my name'(which she guessed was because his mentor may be screaming it every few minutes, by what she knew of him so far). "Well, I am Jowan, of course." He held out his hand in front of her. "Friends?"

Nadine didn't have to think on it, but as she'd later tease, she had no idea what she was getting into when she excepted the hand. "Friends."

Maybe being a mage and living in the tower wasn't going to be so bad after all.

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**Yay, Jowan! Didn't think I would leave him out, would ya? He's VERY important for later chapters, much more than I know you know about him :D**

**I had to give her a friend, she was starting to sound too much of a study-o-holic. Though, let us hope that Jowan doesn't turn her into a punk chick, no? Hehe, not gonna happen.**

**Next chapter should be longer! I really think so!

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**Idiotwhocantthinkofapenname : Hehe, I like your pen name! Thanks for the review!**

**coldblossum: Thanks! I can't wait, either.**

**Xmaster: I'll try to post them soon, so that you can!**


	4. Chapter 3: A Mage Finds A Cat

_Jeesh.. what was I thinking? Playing the new __Awakening expansion over writing about Nadine? 'Tis a crime!_

_haha... my first idea of how to start this was to make her think it was Jowan butting his head against her... but that didn't seem right ;D In fact, it may have been funny, but would Jowan do that in the first place?_

_Uh... don't answer that._

_**Princess Fawna:** I'm sorry it took so long! I hope I still kept it good!_

_**MisfitGirl13**: I'm missing Alistair lots, and I'll say that I wasn't really hoping to make her 'perfect' at all. She, in my eyes, has flaws that really work for who she is. Also, I'm not going to say too much, but from what is planned so far, it's about a chapter a year. It might slow down later... you'll see. :D_

_Right... on with the story!_

**A Mage Finds a Cat**

How the cat got into the tower, Nadine had no clue. She faintly remembered her family having a cat, but all she remembered of them where blurry faces and childish views. Well, she was still a child, but nobody dared tell her that. She was nine now. In her slightly faulted eyes, she was a powerful mage(like every mage thought when they were growing).

Anyway, back to the cat. She'd heard a strange sound in the night, and felt something rubbing against her face. At first, she nearly screamed and yelled 'rat!'. When she opened her eyes, she saw that, indeed, it wasn't a rat. It was a cat. It's glow of yellow eyes intrigued her, along with it's grey fur. The white under it's chin extended under his stomach, and some more of it painted half of his back legs.

Now, she'd seen a cat, before. A few of the mages had leaned shapeshifting in their travels, but never a _real _cat. This one even had the eyes! Some of the shapeshifters had cat-like eyes, but not the 'real deal'. They were still considered human-ish, and not the yellow with black pupils.

She reached a hesitant hand to pet it, and felt a smile grow on her face when it arched up to butt it's head against her hand. The fur was soft, the misty grey oddly calming.

It may not have been exactly then, but that moment was when she decided that she wanted to learn all she could about being a shapeshifter.

"Nadine," Jowan whined as he sat at the table across from her. When he got no answer, he repeated himself a bit more loudly. "Nadine!"

Nadine held up a finger, as she had done for the past half hour, telling him to wait. He huffed before resting his head in a hand, his eyes glancing nervously at a nearby templar. That was one thing they didn't have in common. Jowan, ever in trouble Jowan, found templars to be threatening. He didn't understand how Nadine seemed to view most of them as part of the family.

"Nadine," Jowan started again. A templar nearby flinched, obviously annoyed by the nine year old. Jowan didn't try to hold in the smirk. "Nadine, Nadine, Nadine, Oh Nadine the Great!"

The girl sniffed at the so called nick name he'd given her. 'Oh Nadine the Great.' He started calling her that not long after they'd become friends, due to the fact that she always seemed so focused on her magely tasks.

Nadine looked up from the book, a bit peeved about being disturbed. "What, Jowan?"

Anyone could hear the annoyance in her voice. Jowan chose to ignore it. "Come on! We have half an hour before dinner, don't you want to do something other than read through that book?"

The girl blinked at him a few times before glancing back down at the book. She wasn't going to find what she was looking for. That much was for certain. It wasn't like it was some shapeshifter manual.

She had been looking for any books that mentioned shapeshifting for weeks now, to no avail. It was almost as if they were as hidden as Blood Magic! Not that she had any desire to even think about blood magic. Such a thought may end unpleasantly.

She sighed and closed the book, the sound of the heavy pages falling made Jowan jump. Though, he let out an unthoughtful loud whoop of triumph when she stood. He ignored the fact that most of the nearby mages tried to quietly remind him that he was in a library, but he ignored them. They'd been doing it most of the time he'd followed Nadine in here, anyway.

"Jowan," Nadine started when they exited the library. "Have you ever thought about turning into an animal?"

Jowan blinked. "Only in my dreams. Like once, I dreamt that I was a rat, and I got into the larder... well, it was a good dream, anyway." He shrugged.

"No, I mean shapeshifting." Nadine clarified.

"Nope," Jowan answered, obviously not making the connection between the question and her focus on books about animal and beast lore. Nadine admitted defeat for the day, but all throughout dinner (while listening to Jowan blabbing on) she couldn't take her mind off it.

"Nadine?" the girl shook herself from her reverie when her mentor stopped her teaching when she realized that her pupil wasn't listening. "What did I just say?"

"Umm..." Nadine drew up a blank. She felt slightly guilty, being away in her world that didn't include her studies. It included a big black cat, the size of a human on it's hind legs, in a leafy green forest that she had dreamt up.

Wynne sighed, setting the heavy book she'd been reading from on the table. "What's been on your mind, Nadine?"

Nadine bit her lip, tossing around the words to explain in her head. "Wynne, what does it take to be a... a shapeshifter?"

Wynne didn't seem all that surprised by the question. She sighed again, settling herself on a chair next to Nadine. "Nadine, even I don't know all there is to know about shapeshifting. I've seen mages try it many times in the travels I've had.

"It is banned from apprentices for a reason. I've seen even senior mages fail at the art. When you fail, it's no small thing. Some mages are never able to turn back into humans. That is why, if you choose to be a shapeshifter, you spend years at a time studying just one animal. It's something that you have to devote your life to.

"It's something I don't want you thinking about. You are only nine, and no matter how good you think you are, you do not yet know enough, and you are still an apprentice. You will be for a while yet."

Nadine refused to look at Wynne. She wanted to cry and scream all at once, but something told her that she was expecting this. How many times had she been told that she couldn't do what she wanted, she couldn't count.

She knew that she could never give up the hope, though. Someday, she'd learn about being a shapeshifter. She wasn't sure when, but she would.

**End Chapter.**

_Ummm... I don't know what to say... Sorry for it being so late _and_ short, but I had a hard time finding the inspiration to write this one, I was too busy thinking about how fun the next chapter after this will be. I guess it's a reliever/filler chapter. I can't wait to start introducing Cullen soon, too. ^.^ *nods*_


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